Antec P180 or Thermaltake Tsunami?

[Shadowknight]

Oh, one other thing, the new door has been included in all of the P180s made in the last few months. If, however, you somehow get some of the old stock (though I have no idea why it would have sold so poorly from a vendor...) Antec will send you a replacement door of the new design for free.

 

[BassBomb]

P180 FTW, and i own a tsunami lol

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
Skott, Antec fixed the problem by adding in another layer of aluminum on the door. The door is now identical to construction to the rest of the case; three layers made up of al/plastic/al. The plastic isn't "cheap", it's a fairly good quiality. The reason the design uses plastic is because the case is meant to minimize vibrational noise. Plastic touching plastic is going to generate less noise than metal touching metal.

Sure plastic resonates less then steel or AL but the main reason Antec uses it in their cases is because it's cheaper. In my opinion a high-end case should have little to no plastic in its construction.

My suggestion would be the Lian Li V1100.

 

[Shadowknight]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
Skott, Antec fixed the problem by adding in another layer of aluminum on the door. The door is now identical to construction to the rest of the case; three layers made up of al/plastic/al. The plastic isn't "cheap", it's a fairly good quiality. The reason the design uses plastic is because the case is meant to minimize vibrational noise. Plastic touching plastic is going to generate less noise than metal touching metal.

Sure plastic resonates less then steel or AL but the main reason Antec uses it in their cases is because it's cheaper. In my opinion a high-end case should have little to no plastic in its construction.

My suggestion would be the Lian Li V1100.

Antec consulted with Mike Chin of SPCR. He loved the Antec Aria, which originally used the 3-ply construction that the Aria was based on. He's the one that recommended they use the 3-ply design for the P180 due to the benefits of plastic vs. metal in dealing with resonance noise. It has nothing to do with Antec being cheap, just what one of the biggest known PC-silencers on the web thought was an excellent way to deal with acoustics in a PC.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Shadowknight

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
Skott, Antec fixed the problem by adding in another layer of aluminum on the door. The door is now identical to construction to the rest of the case; three layers made up of al/plastic/al. The plastic isn't "cheap", it's a fairly good quiality. The reason the design uses plastic is because the case is meant to minimize vibrational noise. Plastic touching plastic is going to generate less noise than metal touching metal.

Sure plastic resonates less then steel or AL but the main reason Antec uses it in their cases is because it's cheaper. In my opinion a high-end case should have little to no plastic in its construction.

My suggestion would be the Lian Li V1100.

Antec consulted with Mike Chin of SPCR. He loved the Antec Aria, which originally used the 3-ply construction that the Aria was based on. He's the one that recommended they use the 3-ply design for the P180 due to the benefits of plastic vs. metal in dealing with resonance noise. It has nothing to do with Antec being cheap, just what one of the biggest known PC-silencers on the web thought was an excellent way to deal with acoustics in a PC.

Yeah, I know the back story to the P-180. I agree it's a good design but I think it could have been executed better; the warping panels and broken doors are a testament to that.

 

[Ken90630]

At the risk of overstating the obvious, a computer case does not have to have plastic in its construction to prevent resonance/vibration problems. There are a myriad of aluminum, and steel, cases out there that have no significant resonance/vibration problems whatsoever.

While I can't claim to know the motivations of Antec's designers or production team, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to add plastic to an otherwise aluminum case just to prevent res/vib problems. Design an aluminum case properly and those probs won't be there in the first place. Sure, someone could mount a bunch of Vantec Tornadoes or some of those Comair 10-gazillion-cfm fans in one :evil:, or run 5 direct-mounted hard drives or something and induce some resonances/vibrations, I suppose, but that would obviously be an extreme sitch. Joe Computerbuilder isn't going to do that.

IMHO, it would be more cost effective to build a well designed aluminum case and simply include some of these and a handful of 10-cent rubber washers (for HD mounting) than it would to incorporate plastic panels in some of kind of multi-ply "sandwich." No vibes, no resonances, and no warped doors or unhappy customers.

Heh heh -- it couldn't be that easy. What am I missing here?

 

[Fallengod]

I still love my P180. Who cares if some of the old doors warped. I had mine replaced for free no problem... Actually id have the old door replaced even if it didnt warp. The new aluminum doors block even more sound than the older plastic one did. I love it. Makes it even more quiet.

 

[Sniper82]

is there a way to tell if a used case has the new door?

 

[Fallengod]

Um yup. Just look on the inside of the door. If its black plastic, its the old door. If its a nice sheet of aluminum, it is the new door.

This is the old door. LINK

This is the NEW door. LINK

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Second link broken

But in either case i have the P180. I do not see myself buying a new computer case for years

 

[GiZzO]

Originally posted by: Fallengod
Um yup. Just look on the inside of the door. If its black plastic, its the old door. If its a nice sheet of aluminum, it is the new door.

This is the old door. LINK

This is the NEW door. LINK

Hmm looks like i have the old one. I don't see any warping at all. I've had my case for a little over 9 months everything is flush and door sticks into place.

GiZzO's Fan database Page

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Ken90630

Originally posted by: JM Aggie08
I have a Tsunami and have no complaints. The comment about the door being cheap is pure bs. The door is made of thick metal, unlike the P180 plastic door. yes, it is in 2 diff parts, but that is to keep the drives secure in their bases, can't go wrong with extra peace at mind. cooling, i have not had problems. My temp dropped 10C when and after i got the case. Nothing about the Case is cheap, you get your money's worth, imo.

*Thermaltake Fanboy Alert*

The only "pure bs" here is that post. "Thick metal"? If that door is made of metal, then I'd say it's the kind of thin aluminum that soda pop cans are made of. I could bend that door in half with my bare hands. I stand by my original opinion that it simply feels cheap.

And what does "yes, it is in 2 diff parts, but that is to keep the drives secure in their bases" mean? How does the Tsunami's door keep the drives in their bases? What have you been smoking?

This concludes the Thermaltake Fanboy Alert for Friday, June 30, 2006. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

LOL, Themaltake hater alert!!!

I've hade the Tsunami for 1 1/2yrs and it's a great case, the only thing I don't like about it is the tool less clips for the PCI cards(but they are easy enough to remove, and use regular screws). And the door is heavy aluminum, I'd love to see you bend it in half Ain't gonna happen.

You've already admitted to being a TT hater in a previous post, and I'm sure your really an expert on this case after checking it out for a couple of minutes at Frys

 

[0roo0roo]

custompc magazine did some photoshoot test with a thermal camera on cases an issue back.
the antec p180 was tops. hard to beat that combination of silence and cooling.

 

[dawza]

The Wavemaster vs. Tsunami quality debate has come up a few times in the past. There are those who feel the Tsunami is a well-built, high-quality case, and there are also those who feel it is somewhat cheaply put together, at least compared to the Wavemaster. I have both a Wavemaster and a Praetorian (original w/o door), and have built a system in a Tsunami. Hands down, the Coolermasters excel in the build quality department- they are in an entirely different class quality-wise compared to the Tsunami. The Coolermaster's aluminum is thicker, the finish is better, there is no plastic, and the chassis just feels much sturdier. The removeable mobo tray is a plus as well. With the Wavemaster and original Praetorian (but especially the Wavemaster), cooling can be an issue, at least if quiet cooling is desired. There are ways to work around this with some light modding, though. The buld quality of these cases is worth some additional work to bring them up to spec for modern components, IMO.

On the other hand, the Tsunami has the definite advantage in terms of cooling due to its 120mm intake and exhaust, although a removeable mobo tray is lacking due to space (width) issues that would otherwise result. The Tsunami also has a removeable HDD cage and tool-less 5.25" bay mounting; the HDD cage is handy if you want to suspend HDDs, as you can remove it. I am no big fan of tool-free 5.25" bays, but that is a personal preference. Front fan filter changes are a simple matter, as is swapping out case fans.

I would also have to disagree with the poster who stated that the Tsunami's front door felt cheap/thin- the Tsunami's door is actually the heaviest and thickest part of the entire case. In fact, when empty, the case will tip forward if one opens the door. That said, the door's finish is poor and the plastic behind it is tacky IMO. Overall, I simply did not care for the thin side and top panels, cheap-feeling HDD cage and racks, stiff door clip, loose PCI slot clips, and cheesy plastic feet. The case would be a decent buy at $50-60, but in the $90+ range, there are better choices.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Ken90630

Originally posted by: JM Aggie08
I have a Tsunami and have no complaints. The comment about the door being cheap is pure bs. The door is made of thick metal, unlike the P180 plastic door. yes, it is in 2 diff parts, but that is to keep the drives secure in their bases, can't go wrong with extra peace at mind. cooling, i have not had problems. My temp dropped 10C when and after i got the case. Nothing about the Case is cheap, you get your money's worth, imo.

*Thermaltake Fanboy Alert*

The only "pure bs" here is that post. "Thick metal"? If that door is made of metal, then I'd say it's the kind of thin aluminum that soda pop cans are made of. I could bend that door in half with my bare hands. I stand by my original opinion that it simply feels cheap.

And what does "yes, it is in 2 diff parts, but that is to keep the drives secure in their bases" mean? How does the Tsunami's door keep the drives in their bases? What have you been smoking?

This concludes the Thermaltake Fanboy Alert for Friday, June 30, 2006. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

I own a Tsunami, and far froim a fan boy. but your comment about the quality of the door is absurd. If you could bend it in half with your bare hand you should be in a circus. it's about the heavest, thickest door I've seen on any case.

 

[keldog7]

P180 - hands down winner.